In Death (PSVR) Review

Based on the preview trailers, In Death may come across as yet another VR shooter with a medieval skin on top.  This is where you would be wrong.  I myself went into the experience with tempered expectations, but an open mind.  Needless to say, the game more than proved itself.  So should you give it a try? Let’s take a closer look in our review of “In Death” for the PlayStation VR (PSVR).

In Death is a VR first person shooter that puts you in a procedurally generated medieval world of floating ruins, in which you must defeat various enemies on your journey progressing forward.  From the start, you aren’t given any context or story points at all.  You are literally dropped at a starting point, given a bow and left on your own.  My first time playing, I was caught off guard, as there is no hand holding or objectives to guide you at all.  This strategy definitely did pay off on the part of the developers, in forcing players to hit the ground running and start figuring out the mechanics of the world for themselves.  That being said, this is means that story telling is non-existent, so those looking for any meaning narrative will be sadly disappointed.  What you can discover however, is the context of the world as you journey forward.   With each play session in game being referred to as the “afterlife” – This is because, as the title suggests, from this point you are journeying forward ‘in death’.

The game features various types of enemies that require varying amounts of hits to take them down, with head-shots being the most encouraged way of quickly dispatch enemies.    From the undead looking, zombie-like creatures called the abominations being easily dispatched with one hit – to flying enemies like the cupids that require a constant barrage of hits to be defeated. 

‘In Death’ is an unforgiving, and extremely challenging first-person shooter.  Each play session is treated as one complete journey through the “afterlife” – the point at which you die is the end of that journey, there is no continuing afterwards.  You then restart, back at the starting place called “Sanctuary”.   This is most frustrating for boss encounters, as death means you must play your way back to the boss fight, entirely from the beginning.   

Floating Ruins (In Death PSVR)

Three Abominations about to attack (In Death PSVR)

The game allows for use of either the Dual Shock 4 or PS Move controllers – it also allows for full movement locomotion, with snap turning at various angles of rotation.  The dual shock 4 allows for greater efficiency and simplicity while playing – whilst the PS Move are more immersive.  Using the Dual Shock 4, you reload and fire your arrows with the right trigger, whilst changing your arrow types with the right shoulder button.  The left Trigger is used for teleportation and left shoulder button activates the shield for blocking incoming enemy attacks.  The left and right analog sticks are used for locomotion and rotation respectively, with the D-pad being used for directional dashing.  Despite having PS Move support, my preference in this case was the Dual Shock 4.  If this was a stationary shooter, the PS Move controllers would be perfect, but the added complexity of full locomotion, shooting and dodging was beyond the design capabilities of the Move controllers and was more of a disadvantage while playing.   In which case I opted for the Dual Shock 4.  In this case, I suggest trying both control methods – then deciding which method works best for you.

Unfortunately for all its good points, the game’s biggest stumbling point is in the sound design.  It starts on a high point with low toned, religious themed music – setting the atmosphere.  Fitting well into the narrative of being in a Christian inspired interpretation of purgatory and the afterlife.  But after this, it sadly falls flat.  There is no background music in game, which is not a negative for me as I prefer not having background in most cases – however, some may find the silence not to their liking.  The real issue is the lack of proper sound effects for the enemies.  Enemies approach silently with no audio cues, which prevents the player from being able to listen for enemy footsteps or noises.  This allows enemies to sneak up from behind unnoticed until they attack.  In fact, the only sound effects you will be hearing constantly is the clanking of weapons before and during attacks and the death cries of enemies when they are defeated.

Anakim the Abomination - Boss Fight (In Death on PSVR)

Holding crossbow (In Death PSVR)

All in all, after spending many hours roaming the medieval floating cathedrals, secret dungeons and tortured infernos of “In Death”, it has without a doubt earned a spot of being one of the best PSVR titles I have played to date.  Its premise is not for everyone, and it does have a few minor issues, but for those who are interested - it is a definite buy.  We give In Death on the PSVR a 4.5 out of 5